Last weekend when we were out and about doing errands, when the backseat suddenly got quiet. Both Mini Muffin and Little Smiling Man had fallen asleep in their carseats! We continued about our errands, with either my husband or I darting into the store while the other waited in the car with our sleeping angels. During my wait in the car, I pulled out an issue of Canadian Living I've been keeping in the center console for just such an occasion. It was nice to just relax and read in the car for five minutes... which probably speaks to how hectic life has been lately.
Fast forward, and I'm at home desperately trying to catch up on laundry. My laundry philosophy is quite basic - keep on top of it, and keep it simple. My wash routine is pretty standard (e.g. laundry soap and a wash cycle appropriate for the level of dirt), and for drying I either line dry or just put the clothes straight in the dryer. I've never been big on fabric softener, but used to use dryer sheets with every load. I decided to stop using them in the lead up to Mini Muffin's birth; I wanted to avoid using any products that could irritate her skin, and I also wanted to reduce the chemicals she'd be exposed to. I loved the smell dryer sheets gave my laundry, but have no idea what goes into making that nice scent... and I probably don't want to know! As an added bonus, eliminating dryer sheets has also gotten rid of the gradual plugging of my dryer's lint trap with whatever that waxy substance on them is.
Once I'd stopped using dryer sheets the only real differences I noticed were that our laundry now smelled like beautifully clean nothing, and at times was full of static. I've been living with static for a few years now, but it's been getting worse lately. I suspect my husband's new work socks are the culprit, but who knows? So, on Sunday night as I pulled apart two pieces of clothing crackling with static, I decided to try a tip I'd read in Canadian Living. I searched my closet and found the one wire clothes hanger I'd missed discarding last time I'd cleaned it out. Then, I held up each piece of clothing and ran the clothes hanger up and down it. Voila, no more static! It's that simple.
The clothes hanger trick is also a great tip for travelling. I know I've often found my dress and nylons to have more attraction to each other than I'd like while staying at hotels. I've tried to deal with it with everything from rubbing a dryer sheet on my nylons, to spritzing my legs with hairspray. This seems like a much easier solution, contact with a strip of metal to diffuse the charge, and you're good to go... static free!
Needless to say, that wire clothes hanger is now carefully stored at the front of my closet for future static eliminating duties.
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